Tag Archive: CD

Join us in Shakopee Minnesota this weekend for the great grand Pieces of Eight CD release party! Three full days of fun and frolick with thousands of our dearest fans and friends will be a fair fine debut for our first EP. Sure an’ begorah the Leprechaun Pirates are boarding the Minnesota Renaissance Festival armed with our new CD and stealing the show.

Pieces of Eight Origins and Pirate Lore

“The real de a ocho, also known as the Spanish dollar, the eight-real coin, or the piece of eight (Spanish peso de ocho), is a silver coin, of approximately 38 mm diameter, worth eight reales, that was minted in the Spanish Empire after 1598. Its purpose was to correspond to the German thaler…

…Long tied to the lore of piracy, “pieces of eight” were manufactured in the Americas and transported in bulk back to Spain, making them a very tempting target for seagoing pirates. The Manila galleons transported Mexican silver to Manila in the Spanish Philippines, where it would be exchanged for Philippine and Chinese goods, since silver was the only foreign commodity China would accept. In Oriental trade, Spanish dollars were often stamped with Chinese characters known as “chop marks” which indicated that particular coin had been assayed by a well-known merchant and determined to be genuine. The specifications of the Spanish dollar became a standard for trade in the Far East, with later Western powers issuing trade dollars, and colonial currencies such as the Hong Kong dollar, to the same specifications.”

The Leprechaun Pirates Pieces of Eight CD

The album features eight of our favorite songs, and will be available for sale at the Minnesota Renaissance Festival this weekend for ten pieces of eight each. All the songs on the CD are original or traditional or a combination thereof. We are locked and loaded and will call no quarter. Our motto for this weekend is “Take all ye can, give nothin’ back. Arrrgh Begorah Gold Doubloons!”

Fun Fact: The Leprechaun Pirate King wears a piece of eight as a charm, which he found as a wee lad when digging for buried treasure.